The Palo Alto High School baseball team will host Wilcox High School at 4 p.m. today for the chance to advance to the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League championship series.

“Today’s game is very important,” Paly’s junior outfielder Phil Lewis said. “To sweep Wilcox would be a huge momentum boost going into the championship series.”

The Vikings will look to senior ace Chris Smith to get the job done.  Smith, who finished the regular season with a 1.12 earned run average, pitched a six-inning one-run gem in his only previous start against Wilcox this season.

Smith said he will try to be consistent with what he has done all year.

“I just have to hit my spots and get people out,” Smith said.

Paly will also look to keep up their recent offensive production. Hot-hitting junior outfielder Phil Lewis went 3-4 in Tuesday’s game raising his season average to .423.  The Vikings look to follow Lewis’ example by executing in the same manner that they have in their most recent three-game winning streak.

“We need to execute and stick to our game plan,” Lewis said.

Although the Vikings did pile up nine hits in Tuesday’s victory, a large portion of their offensive success can be attributed to the sloppy defense of the Charges, which accounted for four errors.

Depending on the outcome of today’s contest, the Vikings will either play Friday 4 p.m. at Wilcox or 4 p.m. next Tuesday at a location to be determined. If they win, they will play against the winner of the game between Saratoga High School and Los Gatos High School.  If they lose they travel to Wilcox for the rubber match to take the series.